Windsor County Sheriff Ryan Palmer on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to charges that he paid three women to watch him masturbate, stalked two of them, and tried to conceal his actions.
Palmer, 39, appeared in Rutland County criminal court and was arraigned on seven charges: lewd and lascivious conduct, two counts of soliciting prostitution, two counts of aggravated stalking with a deadly weapon and two counts of obstruction of justice.
Judge Cortland Corsones didn’t find probable cause on four additional charges related to Palmer allegedly covering up his actions.
Palmer was released on conditions, including that he not have firearms or contact the victims.
Corsones declined prosecutors’ request to impose a curfew and temporarily revoke Palmer's law enforcement certification. The Bennington County state’s attorney’s office is handling the case to avoid a conflict of interest with the Windsor County state’s attorney’s office.
Vermont State Police opened their investigation in July 2025 after getting tips about financial misconduct at the Windsor County Sheriff’s Department. During their investigation, state police received information about allegations of sexual misconduct by Palmer.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, investigators spoke to three women who say that Palmer paid them to watch him masturbate, both on video calls and in-person.
One woman told state police that she’d known Palmer since high school, and in June 2024, she’d asked the sheriff’s department for help during an incident with her son, who had some disabilities, the affidavit said. Palmer responded to that incident and then helped the woman get her son into a 21-day treatment program.
The two continued to message, and the affidavit says Palmer started sending the woman money and initiated video calls where he’d masturbate. Palmer also allegedly invited the woman to his house to watch him, and at least once paid her after they had sex, the affidavit said.
The woman became concerned that the financial investigation of the sheriff’s department would expose their actions, according to the affidavit. She says that when she told Palmer she was in touch with an attorney, he asked her to not tell them a “whole lot” and to leave his name out, the affidavit said.
According to the affidavit, a second woman met Palmer when he brought a person to the emergency department at Mt. Ascutney Hospital, where she worked. She told investigators Palmer paid her $600 to $1,000 to watch him masturbate during video calls over the course of several months.
Police also interviewed a witness who said they knew Palmer was allegedly paying the second woman to watch him masturbate. That witness told police Palmer sent them $500 to $600 that they believed was meant to prevent them from speaking to investigators.
A third woman told police that she’d met Palmer at her wedding. The woman said her husband died soon after, and she reached out to Palmer about a property dispute she was having with her father-in-law.
Palmer and the woman continued to text and eventually, the woman told investigators that Palmer asked her for nude pictures and also sent her videos of a person masturbating, according to the affidavit. Palmer also sent the woman three payments, totaling $80, the affidavit said.
Two of the women also told investigators that they saw Palmer driving by their homes while in uniform and in his department cruiser. In one instance, the second victim told police that Palmer confronted her at her workplace parking lot to ask why she wasn’t talking to him, the affidavit said.
Palmer, a Democrat, was elected to his first four-year term in 2022. Since then, he’s expanded the department and picked up several contracts to provide law enforcement services to towns in neighboring Orange County.
Palmer told reporters after his arraignment he would step back from day-to-day operations of the sheriff’s department, but he wasn’t planning on stepping down, WCAX reported.
“I categorically deny that any of these charges are what they are in the affidavit,” Palmer said, according to WCAX. “With that aside, this is my personal life, things I’ve done in my personal life, and I just ask people out there not to have that reflect their views of the Windsor County Sheriff’s Department.”
The department is currently being run by Claude Weyant, a 20-year veteran of the agency. Palmer promoted Weyant to chief deputy after his arrest, Weyant said in an interview on Wednesday.
“We plan to continue our services,” Weyant said. “The department will just keep moving forward, doing the best to serve the public as we can.”
Weyant declined to comment when asked if Palmer should resign.
“I really can't say much about that, everybody's innocent until proven guilty, including the sheriff,” he said.
Sheriffs, as elected officials, can only be removed from office through impeachment, even if they’re facing criminal charges.
The Vermont Sheriff’s Association expressed concern about Palmer’s arrest, but did not call for his resignation.
“We are deeply disappointed and troubled by these developments, as they strike at the core of the public trust that is essential to the mission of law enforcement,” said Jennifer Harlow, Orleans County Sheriff and president of the Vermont Sheriff’s Association, in a written statement.
Timothy Lueders-Dumont, executive director of the Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs, declined to comment on the case.
Windsor County State’s Attorney Ward Goodenough said in a written statement that his office was reviewing the charges against Palmer to determine how they may impact cases that he investigated.
Palmer is also on the Windsor Select Board. Tera Howard, chair of the select board, declined to comment on Wednesday.
